12.Shadow of the Colossus

58%

Whenever the subject of games-as-art comes up, supporters invariably point to Shadow of the Colossus. They laud its majestic, empty landscapes, a storyline that gradually reveals unintended consequences, and the tragic beauty of the colossi themselves. Lumbering, sad-eyed beasts, they seem less like monsters than like the living embodiment of the natural world — which you’re mercilessly destroying for your own ends. It’s true: rarely do games approach this level of truth, or beauty. But does that mean games are art? I prefer to think that Shadow of the Colossus is the strongest possible argument for games as games. _Mitch Krpata